The approach we use is a combination of expertise, experience in alignment with the exam marking scheme. As professional teachers, online tutors and face to face practitioners we pride ourselves on developing the student’s ability by consistent development via demonstration and explanation. We also show students the mark scheme to ensure they know what to aim for. This can be very insightful in attaining the higher grades of 8/9. Very few students attain these top grades. At Swift Tutors we can help you aim for these high grades that set you up for success at university, college and fantastic careers.
Annotation
This is key as correct textual annotation is more than highlighting Students need to write the techniques onto the text to ensure understanding and to use later when writing up the answer. We demonstrate how to do this effectively.
Discussion
For students to flourish and become increasingly more insightful tutor-student discussion is essential to keep the lesson lively and consistently engaging and interactive. Verbal exploration of the skills required of the English GCSE exam and how to perform them in exam conditions is vital. We discuss what the students have found in a text first including literary or rhetorical techniques and their corresponding effects on the reader.
Modelling what to include in an answer
Teacher demonstration helps the student understand the exam’s specific requirements and how to perform them to attain a high grade. We show the skills by example how to write PEE points with fluency, eloquence and explanation.
Showing a student that identifying a technique within a text is fine but writing about the technique and commenting on it specifically will extend their skills to attaining the higher grades. Writing about the effects of language features in direct relation to a set question is a challenging skills for many students but we apply proven strategies that resolve this.
Opportunity for students to demonstrate the skill in their own written answers
Showcasing their learning and knowledge is so beneficial as students gain in confidence and expand their skillset. It is important for students to feel the full effects of their knowledge expansion and the development of new skills as their continue their learning journey through KS2, KS3, GCSE and A levels.
Reflection and Evaluation of Skills
We provide many opportunities for students to reflect and evaluate their current short term and long term progress. This means looking and highlighting areas for future development together with the student to ensure they are fully involved with their own learning.